A Series Of Moments
by Cohen's girl
Summary: I'm sorry for the rubbish title. A collection of Phoenix X Edgeworth drabbles.
1. Smiles

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Everything belongs to Capcom :P **

**Author's note: I have no idea where the inspiration came from- I guess it just popped into my head. Just a bunch of Phoenix X Edgeworth drabbles; I'm not even sure how many there will be. They alternately random and chronological. And pointless, I'm sure :) but if you have the patience to read, then thankyou. Reviews and criticisms welcome, but if you flame for the slash then you are fighting a losing battle.**

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**Smiles**

Edgeworth is a man of many smiles; most of which Phoenix hates to see.

There's the sorrowful smile; a smile that lets you know that this is a man who has held the weight of the world on his shoulders. A man who has gone to Hell and back, been tortured and tormented by the worst imaginable tragedies, suffered every possible mental blow; and yet he never has a single ruffle of his cravat out of place.

Then there's the wry smirk: because this is a man that has seen everything. This is a man that is twice the person you'll ever be. This is a man that is everything that you are not, and he knows it, and it is not at all as satisfactory as he thought it would be. This is a man that strives for a perfection that is not possible; but that is something he refuses to accept.

The angry smile is a sight to behold- somewhere between gritted teeth and a grimace, an image that tells you whatever it is that you have just said or done, you are about to wish you hadn't. A smile that lets you know everything will stay bottled up, but never, ever forgotten.

There is the quiet, forced smile that says, "I wish you hadn't brought that up."

The shaken, fearful smile that says, "We both know I'm scared, but don't you dare expect me to ask for help."

The blank smile that is but a platitude, means nothing.

Phoenix will withstand all those smiles, just as long as Edgeworth's real one still lives: because Edgeworth's real smile is the most beautiful thing he knows.

His real smiles are secrets; barely shared with anyone, only those that are _most_ dear.

Just a ghost of upturned lips. A quirk in the corner of his mouth.

Phoenix is pretty sure that Edgeworth doesn't have the capability to grin.

Its his eyes that are the giveaway; the brightness, the sparkle that is the most wonderful "_thankyou_" to whomever it is that has made him truly smile.

Phoenix loves to be that person- Miles' smile is his reward.


	2. The First Case

**The First Case**

When Phoenix had heard that Edgeworth was a prosecutor, he hadn't been sure what to think. Here was the man who had inspired him to be a defence attorney; who had sworn for a whole year that he himself would follow the profession; and yet now stood on the opposite side of the fence.

He had simply thought: w_hy?_

Had he known what the answers would be, maybe Phoenix would never have asked that crucial mental question. Maybe he would have been scared of the path his life would take. "What if's" were never Phoenix's strong point, however.

He did ask it. He stood across from Edgeworth in the court room, feeling the electricity of rivallry flowing through his body and thought, "_Why would he change his mind? Why would he choose to be a prosecutor?" _

He had no idea that as Edgeworth stood across from him, he was wondering how Phoenix had ever made it as a lawyer.

It was only when Phoenix eventually won his "Not Guilty" verdict that Edgeworth had sat up and taken notice.

This was not the boy he vaguely remembered from a year in his life; this was a man, Phoenix Wright. Bumbling and awkward, admittedly, but a man who had bested him in a court of law.

There was something that...intrigued him.

The first meeting after so many years turned out to be a fated one- because they had never managed to escape each other since.


	3. Cleanliness

**Cleanliness**

Edgeworth couldn't abide by dust or dirt; anything disorganised or out of place was quickly put to rights. Phoenix claimed Miles had an obssessive compulsive disorder- but that was more to ruffle a few feathers of the man who was so perfectly composed, rather than because he _really_ believed it.

Edgeworth had at least five bars of soap in his bathroom, and they were all scented differently- ridiculous things that one could never possibly capture the smell of, like "fresh breeze", "summer sun" or "autumn leaves".

Even his shampoo was strawberry scented.

His bed was always immaculately made- books alphabetical on the shelves.

The first time Phoenix had been in Edgeworth's apartment through invitation, he had been forced to sit on a spotless couch and view the pristine room, and had felt like a spot of dirt himself.

Edgeworth had cocked his head slightly, as he stood behind his desk and looked at him; as though he were one of those "out of place" things that Edgeworth would usually move, but he didn't really know what to do with Phoenix. As if he wasn't quite where to move him to: so instead, he had just joined him on the couch.

Edgeworth's first venture into Phoenix's apartment was mildly comical; eyes as wide as saucers, he had stood on the threshold and stated,

"Wright. I will not place one foot in here until you discover how to _clean_."

It had been quite the incentive.

Edgeworth had even agreed to assist in the project, after much cajoling. There had been no better way to bond, than to remove old takeaway boxes and dust every object one owned.

Although, Edgeworth's face when Phoenix had said so made it quite clear that he disagreed.


	4. DL6

**D-L6**

Two letters and a number. Yet to Miles Edgeworth, it had been his life's nightmare. His father's murder: no conviction, adopted by Von Karma, a guilty secret hidden in vicious dreams...

Sometimes it had seemed his life had ended with D-L6: and then, that Christmas, it had all resurged stronger than ever before.

He was standing in that boat; looking at the pistol in his hand as if it was an alien object; knowing beyond all belief that no matter how awful things had seemed before, they were only going to get worse.

Gumshoe's face when he had been forced to arrest the man he trusted- the man he idolised- had been enough to produce the slightest tug at Edgeworth's heart. That was before all his walls had gone up.

Then, Phoenix...

He had known Phoenix was a good man: ergo, he had known that he didn't want Phoenix involved- not in his mess. However the idiotically spikey-haired attorney had had a hard time understanding the simple word "no", and that strangely garbed girl- _Maya, wasn't that her name?_ - did nothing but encourage him.

They had done all the ground work, dug up all the dirt, and left Edgeworth defenceless; with nothing to do but tell them the truth- about the incident, the earthquakes, the nightmares. Phoenix had been so quiet, so thoughtful; he had watched with those huge, expressive eyes of his and just drank in every word.

"I'll prove you're innocent. Trust me." Those words were more than just words; they were a lifeline to a dying man.

Phoenix had been true to his word; against all the odds. He had fought with a fearsome passion- Edgeworth had seen a fire in Wright's eyes that he had never seen before, or had seen since, not in any other case. He had been full of grim determination; a stubborn desperation that meant that even when things had looked bad he had been...confident. Professional.

Even when the judge had been ready to declare Edgeworth guilty and throw his life away- even when Edgeworth had believed in his own guilt- Phoenix had kept crying "Objection!" to the last. He would not give up. He picked every testimony to pieces, questioning and pressuring till there was nothing left to say. He had cross-examined a parrot.

The stupid and wonderful idiot had cross-examined a _bird_.

Finding out that it was Von Karma- the man who had adopted him; the man who had tutored him; the man who had ingrained the sole rule of perfection into him that had murdered his father should have broken Edgeworth. The man that had effectively reared him, trying to send Edgeworth down for the crime that he himself had committed; it should have broken Miles in two.

But it didn't.

Either Edgeworth was too broken already to be broken again, or there was something behind the scenes, holding him together.

Maybe that something was the someone who walked out of that court-room, having proven Von Karma guilty, who then proceeded to grab Edgeworth's shoulders and say,

"Its over. This case- D-L6 – its all over. You're innocent, Miles."

Maybe that something was the someone who, for just a few seconds, Edgeworth let hold him; the man that Edgeworth allowed to tell him that he was free.

Sometimes it seems to Miles as if his life began with the end of D-L6.


	5. Kisses

**Kisses**

From the first, Phoenix had known that Edgeworth was the ultimate tease. The persona suited the man perfectly; he always looked good enough to eat- with his silken silver hair, his crisp magenta suit- and denying his defense attorney "friend" anything other than a friendly pat had seemed to be part of a cruel game he played.

Phoenix used the word "friend" loosely, because he knew one didn't have to physically consumate to be involved.

The fact that Edgeworth was impossible to talk to made it hard to resolve the situation in the beginning; because as soon as the word,

"Miles-" was out of his mouth, Edgeworth seemed to anticipate what Phoenix was about to say; and he would frown, purse his lips and say,

"I'm busy, Wright, can it wait?" And that, as they say, would be that.

It was a little while after that fateful Christmas that Phoenix got his wish- 14th of January, 7:06 pm, Phoenix remembers exactly, but if asked he would never admit to it. There was a tiny sprig of mistletoe left hanging in his apartment; after all, cleanliness – at the very least, absolute, perfect, shiny cleanliness- was Edgeworth's thing.

They had been sat on Phoenix's lumpy couch; donated from his grandmother when he had first moved into his apartment. Phoenix had been wringing his hands, knowing that the mistletoe was up there: obvious as a neon light in the pitch black of night. It was telling him to kiss Edgeworth, and he knew it; but he wasn't sure how to go about it.

The other man had easily sensed his tension; but for all his shrewd observation and intelligence, Edgeworth hadn't quite understood _what_ Phoenix was getting worked up about. Instead he had just narrowed his eyes, keeping himself quielty alert for whatever outburst he was about to have to endure- what ever rambling was about to issue from that inconceivable mouth.

Phoenix debated whether he should give some indication of the fact that he was about to kiss Edgeworth, or whether he should simply do it and remove the chance of the prosecutor running away.

The more he thought, the more scared he became. The more the silence stretched.

Phoenix had been sweating. He had felt the lightest trickle squirming down the back of his neck and he had to fight the urge to cringe, or scratch his neck like he usually would.

At Edgeworth's raised eyebrows he was forced to try and communicate in some way.

"Miles- mistletoe." He had whispered, almost incoherently. Edgeworth had smiled gently; trying not to smirk, not to mock him.

"Are you introducing us?" He had asked; then nodded amicably at the mistletoe, and the gesture was almost too much for Phoenix; he almost burst into a fit of laughter, but just about managed to contain himself.

He had edged closer. Just a little closer. A little more...

Just within reach...

And then he had gently pressed their lips together in the most chaste of kisses; and decided that actually, it wasn't that difficult at all, and Miles had softer lips than he could ever have imagined.

After that first time, they became much, much more frequent.

Their kisses were often stolen in passing moments; in Phoenix's office, on a doorstep, an empty courtoom. There was always so little time, and the hurry made them all the more heated, more passionate.

To Phoenix they were like a drug; an addictive sweetness he could no longer live without.

And the long wait, had, of course, made them taste all the sweeter.

Phoenix is sure Edgeworth planned it that way all along- but he'll never say so, because he knows Edgeworth will simply bring up their first kiss to embarrass him and avoid the truth.

Not that Phoenix would really mind. He cherishes the memory as much as he would anything tangible.


End file.
